Railway tie and fastener



H. A. CLARK.

RAILWAYTIE AND FASTEN ER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-14.1922.

. 8,07 8 Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

iqsl 1 INVENTOR A. Cla rlc 4 TTOR/VEVS WITNESSES H. A. CLARK. RAILWAY TIE AND FASTENER- APPLICATION FILED JAN-14,1922- 1,428,078. 7 Patentedsept. 5,1922

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES ,4 TTORNEYS Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

STATES HARRY ADAM CLARK, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

RAILWAY TIE AND FASTENER.

Application filed January 14, 1822.

' T all whom it may concern Be it known that l, HARRY A. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Ties and Fasteners, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to railway ties and fasteners of the type of construction disclosed inLetters Patent of the United States #1,361,750 issued to me December the 7th, 1920, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

[in object of the present invention is to provide a railway tie and fastener of durable construction which may be readily assembled and disassembled, whereby each element thereof may be replaced wfhen no longer serviceable on account of wear or for any other cause.

A further object of my invention is to provide a railway tie and fastener whlch will effectively support the rails and hold the same in position against spreading and creeping and at the same time be sufliciently elastic to be unaffected by the wave motions in the rails.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be outlined in the appended claims. 7

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a top plan yiew of an embodiment of the present invention in applied position with respect to'the rails of a track,

Figure 2 is a section through the rails and a portion of a bed of a track, showing the railway tie and fastener in side elevation,

Figure 3 is a detail plan View of a fragmentary portion of the tie and fastener, portions thereof being broken away and other portions being shown in section,

Figure 4 is a detail. view similar to Figure 2, showing a fragmentary portion of the tie and fastener, portions thereof being broken away, and other portions being shown in section, I

Figures 5 and6 are detail elevations of the elements included in the tie and fastener,

Figure 7 is a plan view of another element included in the same device, and

Figures 8, 9 and 10 respectively are per- Serial No. 529,186.

spective views of still other elements of the means included in the rail fastener.

Incarrying out my invention, I provide a pair, of blocks 1, l of rectangular coniormat-ion, which blocks are formed of concrete or a like durable material.

Each of the blocks has transversely extending spaced depending projections 2 formed on its under'surface and a pair of lgmgitudinally extending upstanding proections 3-8 on its upper face adjacent to the side edges thereof and intermediatel of the length of the block. Each of the blocks 1, 1 is provided with sockets 4:, 4 in its opposite ends adjacent to the bottom thereof. i

The blocks 1, 1 are tamped into a track bed 5 in end to end spaced alignment and are connected by a tie bar 6. The latter is formed of a suitable metal and may be of different sizes as required without necessitating any change in the construction of the blocks 1, 1 or of the other elements of the device, as will presently appear. It is to be observed that the tie bar 6 has the end port ons arranged to extend along I the upper surfaces of the blocks 1, 1 and thatthe eX- l treinities of these end portionsare bent into lJ-shape and adapted to embrace the remote ends of the blocks 1, 1 when the opposite ends of the tie bars are disposed within the sockets 1, 1 at the remote end of the blocks 1 1, 1, as clearly shown in the drawing.

The portion of the tie bar 6 extending along the upper surfaces of the blocks 1, 1 between the upstanding projections 3, 3 is offset downwardly as indicated at 7, thereby defining spaced apart shoulders on the under side of the bar adjacent to each end thereof and a socket 9 in the upper side of the bar adjacent to each end thereof. The sockets and the pairs of spaced shoulders 8,8 00- operate with other elements of the device to hold rails 10, 10 supported on the blocks 1., 1 in spaced parallel relation, as will be understood from the following description.

I shall confine my description to the parts associated with one of the blocks 1, 1 and one of the rails 10, 10, it being understood that precisely identical parts are provided for the other block and rail.

The rail rests upon a pair of rectangular bearing and cushioning blocks 11, which are arranged in parallel relation with each other and with the offset portion 7 of the tie bar 6 at opposite sides of the latter and in contact with the upstanding projections 3, 3. A metallic rail securing plate comprises a body portion 12 fitting within the socket 9 of the tie bar and having pairs of integral U-shaped extensions 13, 13 at each end thereof, which extensions are arranged to extend oppositely into contact with the proximate sides of the rail bearing and cushioning blocks 11, 11 and to have their ends in contact with the portion of the tie bar 6 adjacent to the offset portion 7 and at direc l opposite points, as best seen in Figures 3 and 1. lVooden filler blocks 11 of the form illustrated in Figure 9 are disposed between the rail bearing and cushioning blocks 11, 11 and the rail securing plate 12 whereby the latter is firmly held against movement transversely of the block 1.

A strip of indurated fibre 15 or like insulating material is fashioned with enlarged end portions 16, 16 and is superimposed upon the plate 12 in position to insulate the rail 10 from the plate 12 and the tie rod 6, as is essential in some instances.

A pair of rail clamping plates 17, 17 having the form illustrated to advantage in Figure 10 are provided and are arranged at opposite sides of the base flange of the rail 10 with portions thereof overlying the bottom flange as clearly shown in Figures 1, 2 and 1 of the drawing. The end portions of the insulating strip may be arranged between the clamping plates 17, 17 and the rails as in Figure i. Each of the clamping plates 17 has a pair of spaced openings 18, 18 formed therethrough. A pair of U-bolts 19 are provided (see Fig. 6) and are arranged at opposite sides of the rail. Each of the U-bolts has its web underlyingthe tie bar 6 in engagement with one of the shoulders S and the arms of the U-bolt are arranged to straddle the overlying portion of the tie bar and to extend beteen the U-shaped extensions of the plate 12. The arms of the U-bolts extend through the openings in the clamping plates 17. 17 and project above the latter. It will therefore be manifest that the plate 12 will be held against movement longitudinally of the block 1 and that the rail 10 will be fastened to the tie bar 6 when nuts 20 are screwed on the ends of the U-bolts 19 against the clampingplates 17. Spacing members 21, 21am arranged between the opposite sides of the base flange of the rail and the Ubolt as shown in Figure 4 to adjust the rails 10, 10 to tie gauge required.

The spacing members 21, 21 may vary in width as re quired according to the service for which intended. It will be understood that the spacing members 21. 21 are arranged in required positions before the clamping plates 17, are applied and secured in place in the manner described.

From the foregoin description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof will be readily understood. The projections 011 the bottom or under surface of the blocks 1, 1 prevent shifting of the blocks from the position in which they are tamped into the track bed. The pairs of upstanding projections on the top side of the blocks 1, 1 hold the bearing and cushioning blocks 11, 11 against movement transversely of the blocks 1, 1 and in consequence creeping of the rails in either direction is reduced to a minimum. Thestresses incident to the weight of the rails and of the rolling stock traversing the rails are communicated to the blocks 1, 1 through the wooden bearin and cushioning blocks and no part of the load is sustained by the hereinbefore described elements for fastening the rails in position on the blocks. This is an important feature of the invention and it will be obvious that my improved railway tie and fastener will last a long time in service with the necessity of replacing parts thereof obviated, thereby accomplishing a saving in the cost of maintenance of a track embodying my invention. Moreover, the fastening parts will not be loosened or displaced relatively on account of the undulating motion of the rails in service. Neither will the blocks 1, 1 be affected by the undulating motion of the rails since such motion is taken up by the tie bar without being imparted to the blocks 1, 1 and the underlying track bed is therefore unimpaired. The elements of pairs described in the foregoing are interchangeable and when any such element is no longer fit for the service for which it was intended, it may be replaced readily without replacement or change in construction of the other elements of the device. Each tie acts as an anticreeper, and the rails are therefore held against spreading. It will be obvious that I may use a single concrete block extending beneath both rails instead of the pair of blocks beneath the rails without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim 1. A railway tie and fastener comprising a pair of wear resisting rigid blocks spaced apart and each provided with a pair of upstanding projections on its upper face ex- 2. A railway tie and fastener comprising a pair of wear resisting rigid blocks spaced apart, a tie bar engaging with said blocks at the remote ends thereof for maintaining said blocks in spaced apart end to end alignment and for holding said blocksagainst spreading, each of said blocks being formed with integral upstanding projections extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to its opposite side edges, and means arranged upon the blocks between said projections and opposite sides of said tie bar for holding the latter against movement transversely of the block, said last named means being adapted to provide a bearing for a rail.

3. A railway tie and fastener comprising a pair of wear resisting rigid blocks spaced apart, a. tie bar engaging with said blocks at the remote ends thereof for maintaining said blocks in spaced apart end to end alignment and for holding said blocks against spreading, each of said blocks being formed with integral upstanding projections extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to its opposite side edges, and means arranged upon the blocks between said projections and opposite sides of said tie bar for holding the latter against movement transversely of the block, said last named means including wooden members adapted to provide bearings for the rail,

4;. A railway tie and fastener comprising a pair of wear resisting rigid blocks spaced apart, a tie bar engaging with said blocks at the remote ends thereof for maintaining said blocks in spaced apart end to end alignment and for holding said blocks against spreading, each of said blocks being formed with integral upstanding projections extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to its opposite side edges, and means arranged upon the blocks between said projections and opposite sides of said tie bar for holding the latter against movement transversely of the block and for fastening a rail to said tie bar in superimposed position on said block.

5. A device of the character described comprising a pair of plastioblocks spaced apart and each provided with a pair of upstanding projections on its upper face extending along opposite side edges thereof, a tie bar spanning the blocks and engaging adjacent to its ends with said blocks to hold the same in spaced end to end alignment, and rail fastening and supporting members arranged on said blocks between the longitudinally exte nding projections thereof, certain of said members being attached to said tie bar.

6. In combination, a railway tie comprising a pair of plastic blocks, each of said plastic blocks being formed with depending projections on its bottom face extending transversely thereof and with a pair of spaced upstandingprojections on its upper face extending along opposite side edges thereof, means engaging the blocks for holding themagainst movement in spaced. end to end alignment, and rail fastening members wedged between said upstanding projections on the upper face of each block for holding a rail in superimposed relation on said block, certain of said rail fastening members being attached to said block co-nnecting means.

7. In combination, a railway tie comprising a pair of rigid wear resisting blocks, each provided with a pair of spaced apart upstanding projections extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to opposite side edges of the block, a tie bar spanning the blocks and engaged with the blocks at the remoteends of the latter to maintain the blocks spaced. end to end alignment and for holding the blocks against spreading, said tie bar being formed with a downwardly offset portion overlying each block and extending between the said projections on the block in parallel relation thereto, and means approximately centered between said projections and engaging the tie bar at the ends of the voffset portion for securing a rail to the tie bar.

8. In combination, a railway tie comprising a pair of rigid wear resisting blocks, each provided with a pair of spaced apart upstanding projections extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to opposite side edges of the block, a tie bar spanning the blocks and engaged with the blocks at the remote ends of the latter to maintain the blocks in spaced end to end alignment and for holding the blocks against spreading, said tie bar being formed with a downwardly offset portion overlying each block and extending between the said projections on the block in parallel relation thereto, rail fastening means engaging with the tie bar at the ends of the downwardly offset portion, and means disposed between said rail fastening means and the projections on said blocks for holding said rail fastening means against movement transversely of the blocks and for providing a bearing surface for the rail.

9. In combination, a railway tie comprising a pair of rigid wear resisting blocks, each provided with a pair of spaced apart upstanding projections extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to opposite side edges of the block, a tie bar spanning the blocks and engaged with the blocks at the remote ends of the latter to maintain the blocks in spaced end to end alignment and for holding the blocks against spreading, said tie bar being formed with a downwardly offset portion overlying each block and extending between the said projections on the block in parallel relation thereto, rail fastening means engaging with the tie bar at the ends of the downwardly offset portion, and means disposed between said rail fastening means and the projections on said blocks for holding said rail fastening means against movement transversely of the blocks and for providing a bearing surface for the rail, said last named means being made of wood. 7

10. In combination, a railway tie comprising a pair of plastic blocks, each of said blocks having a pair of longitudinally extending projections on its uppersurface adjacent to opposite sides thereof, a tie bar engaging with said blocks at remote ends for holding the blocks in alignment and for preventing spreading movement of the blocks, said tie bar being formed with downwardly ofiset portions adjacent to its ends, said offset portions being arranged to overlie said blocks and to extend between the pair of projections on each block substantially parallel therewith, a rail securing plate superimposed upon the offset portions of the tie bar and formed witha pair of ii -shaped extensions at each end thereof,

said U-shaped extensions being arranged to embrace the tie bar adjacent to the ends of the oiiset portions, clamping plates adapted to engage with the bottom flange of the rail and each provided with a pair of spaced openings therethrougn, U bolts embracing said tie bar at the ends of the offset portions, being received between the U- shaped extensions at the end of the rail securing plate and thus being arranged to e:-:-

HARRY ADAM CLARK. 

